Bengaluru FC suffered their first defeat of the Puttaiah Memorial Cup against Kickstart FC, at the Bangalore Football Stadium on Monday. The first half strike from Sharath Kumar (25′) was enough to see Kickstart FC pick up the victory.
It was a tight first twenty minutes, with both sides trying to break the deadlock. Bengaluru FC and Kickstart FC had their chances through routine set-pieces, but failed to make it count. Kickstart FC took the lead close to the half hour mark with a swift counter-attack. A quick run from Akshay saw him beat his man and put in a low cross for Sharath, who buried the opportunity.
The game was fought out in the middle of the park for majority of the first half before the referee blew the whistle for the break. Into the second half, the Blue Colts came out looking for an early equaliser, and almost found it through Akashdeep Singh, who was put through on by Bekey Oram, only for the linesman to raise his flag.
The Blue Colts brought on Lalpekhlua, Lalhmingchhuanga, Ashik Adhikari and Monirul Molla in a bid to turn the game around. The substitutes pushed for an equaliser, but the Kickstart FC backline remained stubborn and kept the attackers at bay.
Bengaluru FC next face Bangalore Eagles in the semifinal on August 17 at the same venue.